Thursday, July 26, 2012

So CandyAnna and I are inching around one another again. It might be time to break out this candy loving, food-obsessed part of me again. I move tomorrow and am currently packing so I chose today as just the perfect day.

So friends, let us take a bite out of the apple and get back on that horse and all those other metaphors that do or do not fit.

Some people who lack imagination (and shall remain nameless) respond with comments like, 'well, do you have have to choose from things in the cafeteria?' or "I don't think they can make my grandmother's green beans?"

This is not ACTUALLY a real question. Just as one's presence on cell block 'dead in 12 hours' is hypothetical (hopefully), so is the question. Open your mind to the possibilities...Food is one of the most fantastic tethers we have to our earthy, animal selves. The need to eat is basic and instinctual, but hopefully, WHAT we eat it not- it can be heavenly.

Some chose the components of the 'the greatest meal they ever had' - like the appetizer 'from that business dinner they didn't pay for at Per Se.' Most people, on the other hand, chose foods that were actually little slices of their favorite parts of life. Choices like "my grandmother's fried chicken" or "a hot dog from that certain vendor at Wrigley field" would offer a last chance to savor a moment in time, as well as a familiar flavor.

My current choice ****please note this is an ever evolving list

1 bottle of good champagne (not picky on brand - just very good please)

Coat an 8-inch square pan with cooking spray; line bottom with parchment paper. Coat the parchment with cooking spray, and set pan aside. Put sugar, corn syrup, and 3/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Stop stirring; let mixture come to a boil. Raise heat to medium-high; cook until mixture registers 260 degrees on a candy thermometer.

Meanwhile, sprinkle gelatin over 3/4 cup water in a heatproof bowl; let stand 5 minutes to soften. Set the bowl with the gelatin mixture over a pan of simmering water; whisk constantly until gelatin is dissolved. Remove from heat, and stir in extract; set aside.

Beat egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until stiff (but not dry) peaks form. Whisk gelatin mixture into sugar mixture; with mixer running, gradually add to egg whites. Mix on high speed until very thick, 12 to 15 minutes.

Pour mixture into lined pan. Working quickly, drop dots of red food coloring across surface of marshmallow. Using a toothpick, swirl food coloring into marshmallow to create a marbleized effect. Let marshmallow stand, uncovered, at room temperature until firm, at least 3 hours or overnight. Cut into squares.

Friday, December 9, 2011

So it has been awhile guys. I have missed you. The truth is simply that I can't be CandyAnna unless I am hungry, and sometimes I am just not hungry. Or I am hungry but for news, or history class, or fashion. CandyAnna was stuck in a treat rut.

Is that a tear? Because there is no crying in baking.

I was jacked out of that rut swiftly and surely by the foodaganza national holiday of Thanksgiving. Or TGive 2011 as we titled this years food fest. TGive was to commence at my sister's house in Denver where the kitchen is large and shiny and the stakes are high. My sister always challenges me to bake outside the box and I was certainly achin' for some bakin'.

The challenge: Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake.

I had never made a cheesecake before and found a fantastic recipe on one of my favorite blogs www.smittenkitchen.com. I was particularly attracted because if Thanksgiving doesn't included bourbon than it doesn't count...everyone knows that. Here it is in all its glory with a few little tweeks.

Friday, August 26, 2011

I haven't done a candy review for awhile so I figured it was time. Plus I walked into a place called In Zone- a type of store unique to college towns featuring tiny Iowa Hawkeye shorts/19 cent fountain sodas/candy/rolling papers and glass pipes for tobacco use only - an impulse bought 4 kinds of candy. For an inexplicable reason I bought Skittles Blenders- one of those new variations they force on people because they think they are bored w/ regular skittles. This one features unnecessarily mixed fruit flavors and then shove them into a Skittles.

Here are the dumb flavors:

Melon Berry Burst: taste neither like Melon, nor Berry.

Watermelon Green Apple Freeze: only one that was oooookkkkaaaayyy.

Strawberry Lime Blast : tastes like soap

Mango Lemonade Freeze: taste like suntan lotion

Cherry Tropicolada: not equipped to describe this ickiness.

Stay away. These flavors are the candy equivalent of people who make up their own children's names because they think they sound 'different.' Again - stay away from the Skittles in the yellow bag.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

When I buy a new pair of shoes, I usually keep them in my closet for a little bit...warming up to them...watching them in a natural shoe environment...proving they really belong to me and fit in with my little wardrobe family (we are a tightly knit clan, most cottons HA!- good pun, right?) .

Leaving a beloved old city and moving to a new one has sort of been like this...Iowa City is currently sitting in the corner of my apartment, and we are slowly getting used to each other.

The upside/flip side to this transitional period is gobs of hours to bake! And it is summertime in Iowa, one of the most delicious places on earth. When you buy fresh produce from the Pioneer Co-Op it comes from a farm 10's of miles away, at a quarter of the price of Union Square Farmers Market (score one, Iowa). Tomatoes, summer squash, cucumbers are running wild. How, oh how will we use all this zucchini?

Zucchini Cheddar Muffins will do! I found this fantastic recipe from a blog called A Cozy Kitchen.

1 cup grated cheddar (***I recommend a 1 1/4 cup because I like to overdue it)

2 1/2 cups of flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 stick butter, cold and cubed

1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).

Shred the zucchini. Using a cheese cloth, add the zucchini to the center and squeeze all of the excess water out. Transfer to a small bowl and add 1/2 teaspoon salt and a dash of flour. Mix and let stand for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt. Working quickly, add the cubed butter and break up with your hands until they’re the size of small peas. ***Because you are working with butter, work this as little as possible for maximum fluffiness.

Add the milk, zucchini and cheddar until moistened. Drop batter, using two tablespoons, on a baking sheet lined with parchment.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until edges are golden brown. Serve warm if at all possible but they are fantastic ANYTIME.

With each warm biscuit Iowa City and I are warming up to one another, making sure we fit into each others wardrobe. In the meantime I am going to continue to bribe it with baked goods and new shoes.